Love Notes to Others
I’m hoping that this week has been a good one for you. No matter where you’re at in your walk with God, I pray that this week’s blog has encouraged you. We’ve focused on how to give God our praise and receive His love and today we’re going to focus on love notes to others.
On my way to write this blog at a near by coffee shop (why is it easier to write in a place that is busy and smells like pumpkin spice?), I passed a man walking down the road. This man’s shirt was shredded on one sleeve and he looked weary. He was carrying grocery bags of a store which was a fair distance from where I saw him. My heart instantly ached and I wished I could do something like offer him a ride. I had a mental picture of Macaulay Culkin in “Home Alone” carrying those plastic grocery bags and them busting through onto the ground (oh my imaginative brain!). Nonetheless, this man ties in perfectly with today’s topic!
There are talents, strengths and time available within each of us to help other people. To a certain degree, we can love people and celebrate them in our own strength. Yet, until we have a right understanding of God’s perfect love and allow that to renew our souls and flow through us, we love and serve within our own measure. When we operate in a place where His love flows in and through us, we can impact people with a love greater than our own. This is another reason why God so desires to pour His love into us is so that it can overflow from our lives.
Recently I prayed over the sweetest young girl. She had hair color similar to mine which made me all the more drawn to her. I noticed her passionately worshipping the Lord at the altar and yet sensed her heart was breaking. I asked her what I could pray for her for and wasn’t prepared for what she shared. She’d been molested, her dad was in prison for killing someone, her mom was battling an advanced stage of cancer and a few other scenarios. I breathed and within myself asked Jesus to draw near. When I encounter these scenarios, I have nothing of myself to offer. I may have the same hair color as she, but I share no advice or life experience that can help her. All I have is to rely on God’s love and Holy Spirit to encourage through me.
This case and the man without a car carrying grocery bags may seem a little extreme to your everyday scenarios, but I didn’t travel far to encounter either of these people. In all actuality, we don’t have to look far to see pain and struggle. Even our closest of friends or family members are continually walking through life and life can be quite challenging at times ;-) This is where we can be used greatly by our sweet Jesus. We can reach out, pray and encourage.
Today’s challenge isn’t for the weak in heart, but also is applicable for anyone in any season of life. I’ve often found that in the most difficult seasons of my life, when I give out of what God is doing in me and love on others, that He pours the love I need back into me. I’m believing that as you move outside of your comfort zone and step into today’s challenge, that your life and those you write notes to would be encouraged in the love of God.
1. Pray and ask the Lord to give you a heart for someone today. Maybe it’s a best friend or family that you haven’t actually prayed for in a while. Maybe it’s a co-worker or a barista at your daily coffee stop. Once you feel like someone has come on your heart, don’t disregard it, begin to ask God what He is saying about them/how He feels about them. This can be the simplest thing like, “He loves them” or “He rejoices over them”. These may be simple but are biblical truths that are powerful.
2. Once you feel like you have revelation about what God wants to say over them, begin to pray into what you hear. Say, “Father I thank you that you love (fill in name) and that you rejoice over them. Holy Spirit, encourage them today. Pour out the love of the Father and the Son. Fill them with your spirit. Draw them near to your heart. Perfect everything that concerns them. Give them a hunger for your word. Keep them in your ways.”
3. Lastly, write a “Love Note” to this person along with a scripture if you feel led, letting them know God loves them and that you’re praying for them, or however you feel led. This can be done easily through a Facebook message, email or even better, a hand written note! Note: this does’t have to be over the top, but even a simple sentence can make someone’s day especially when it’s bathed in prayer.
My encouragement to you would be to continue in your love note journey. Post love notes of how great God’s love is to remind yourself to praise and love on Him. Write love notes from God and post those as reminders of how much you’re loved. And keep asking God for His heart for others to continue to be a light unto them.